Lifting the Weight of the World
by AngelfishGirl
Summary: Team Seven is on an overnight mission to build their friendship, trust, and teamwork. Only Sasuke wakes from a horrible nightmare! It's up to Sakura to free his pain. Sasuke's got some secrets that only Sakura gets to see! What could they be?


**SasuSaku Finalized Clip (After Sasuke's rescue/capture… however you think of it) Made by: SasukeUchihasGuardian**

**This is my second book on the internet... and this was the first book I ever let anybody read!! I figured I should put this one on here. Enjoy! My author notes are bolded and underlined. I am still new to letting people read my books... so please... gentle comments! :)**

**I am not very good with paragraphs... I repeat, NOT good with paragrpahs!! My other book was insanely hard to read without them though... so I'm going to try it. If my paragrpahing is totally screwed up... well... please try not to let it ruin the story. You can PM me and help me if you want. Enjoy!! Warning for Sasuke OOC later in the chapter... trust me.. not at first... but later, you'll notice it.**

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_Lifting the Weight of the World:_

Background:

The team is ordered by their sensei, Kakashi to camp together outside the Leaf Village overnight so they can have some time alone, to build trust and teamwork. They all pack their things, and set off that night. They chose a high hill; and at the very top of it. It's a clear view besides at the very edge of the peak, there are two giant willow trees, one on each side that loom over the whole peak, meeting in the very middle. With a clear view of the night you can see the moon, and the ground views a field of flowers and lush grass. It's a beautiful sight; many honeymoons, marriages, and dates are here. This is the story of Team Seven's night here. (it is at night only, right before they go to bed)

Story:

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura brought all of their supplies for the night into their faded green tent, which barely fit the three of them inside all at once.

Naruto unfolded in his bright orange sleeping bag that matched his jumpsuit, pausing to scratch his back over his black pajamas. Sakura, dressed in her emerald green silk nightgown, waited for Naruto to finish before walking into the tent to set her sleeping bag up. Sasuke sat a few feet away from the tent with his eyes closed; his elbow was resting on top of his pillow, which sat on top of his rolled up sleeping bag. Sasuke was the only one who hadn't dressed into pajamas yet; he would wait until his sleeping bag was ready.

Sakura slowly walked out, nudging Sasuke as a signal to get his things out. With a sigh, he heaved himself up and he went into the tent, zipping it shut behind him.

Sakura and Naruto glanced up at the scarlet painted sky, patiently waiting for both their teammate, and the sun to set.

It wasn't long after that when Sasuke came out, wearing his black pajamas. He glanced at his teammates, barely making eye contact with them. They exchanged glances for no more than a second before Sasuke turned his head away.

The team sat in silence waiting for the sun to fully set so they could go to bed. After ten minutes with hardly any communication, the sun finally set. The team decided to go to bed.

Naruto dove into his sleeping bag, snuggling up into its warmth and burying his head into the fluffy pillow. Sakura scooted in normally, watching in confusion as Sasuke hesitated before crawling into his sleeping bag, which was a faded blue tainted with a couple drops of blood. Sakura had to force back a shiver glancing at the disturbing sight. **Sorry, I couldn't come up with a better word than "disturbing" **Naruto slept the farthest inside the faded green tent, while Sakura slept in the middle, and Sasuke slept closest to the opening of the tent.

Naruto shifted slightly in his sleeping bag. "Night." He mumbled sleepily. Sakura only giggled "Night Naruto" she replied smiling. She glanced down at her black haired teammate, who was facing the opposite direction of her. His eyes were closed but she knew he was still awake. "You too, Sasuke." She added to him. "Yea… goodnight." He whispered. Sakura and Sasuke both heard an enormous yawn escape from Naruto, then light snoring. _He's out already? _Sakura and Sasuke both thought.

Sakura inched closer to Sasuke, trying to get more warmth that her sleeping bag didn't provide. Sasuke didn't exactly enjoy being so close to her, but he was too tired to move away. Sakura could barely see, but she could just make out Sasuke's face, deep into his pillow, buried into his chest. Sighing, she closed her eyes, falling asleep about ten minutes later.

Despite feeling uneasy sleeping next to his teammates- being so CLOSE to them, he managed to let his tiredness take over him as he slipped into sleep.

_Baby brother… you're pathetic. If you wish to kill me, settle for hating me… hate me and live… like the coward you are! Clinging to life without honor! ..And someday, when you have the same eyes as I… you will find me again. _Itachi's words plagued Sasuke's dreams. "No… Itachi… Sharingan… stop… please…" Sasuke murmured in his sleep, tossing and turning wildly.

Sakura silently watched him, worried of the fact he sounded as if he was in pain. She wanted to wake him, but at the same time she wondered what Sasuke would do. _Would he get mad at me for waking him? _She thought.

She gasped as his eyes shot open, wet and shiny with tears forming over them. He panted for air, looking more panicked then ready to cry. He sat staring at the ceiling of the tent, then glanced at Sakura, who quickly closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. He then glanced at Naruto, who was sprawled out on top of his sleeping bag. Naruto really did toss and turn in his sleep, even without nightmares.

He sat up, and grabbed something out of his backpack, then silently unzipped the door and walked outside into the warm air. Sakura inched closer to the slightly opened door, peeking out to watch her teammate. He was gripping something loosely in his hand, but she couldn't see what it was.

He sat on the peak of the hill, gazing up into the hazy sky. The full moon seemed as big as the view of the Leaf Village itself. He had his knees brought up, with his arms straight out resting on them.

Staring at the sky for a long while, Sakura thought he had fallen asleep like that, until she heard him whisper: _"I'm an avenger."_ She now understood what he was lost in thought about. He had a nightmare about his clan's massacre, one that one dreadful night when he was only six. After what seemed like ages, he looked down into what he was holding. It dangled limply in his grip, and it was no longer than his arm.

She noticed his eyes looked distressed, faraway. Knowing he needed to talk to somebody, she slowly walked out of the tent. "Sasuke!" She called out to him, making him jump in alarm. He looked back at her in surprise, then turned back and hid what he was holding, trying to make it look casual, yet Sakura saw him do it, clear as day.

She ran up to his side and kneeled down next to him. "What's wrong?" She asked him softly. He looked to the ground, avoiding eye contact and trying to hide his emotions. "Nothing." He snorted. Sakura gave him an uneasy look. "You don't seem like yourself, now tell me what's wrong. I can help you. Besides, Kakashi gave us this opportunity to be able to spend time together and talk to each other." She reasoned with him, trying to press it out of him.

Sasuke tried his best to glare at her, but with so many rushing emotions, he pictures his glare to look a lot less menacing than how he was trying to make it seem. Sakura noticed that he was trying to glare, but the only thing she could see in his eyes was depression and loneliness.

"Is it the cold stares you get when you walk past the villagers, or because of your old ties with Orochimaru?" She asked. Sasuke made an uneasy face, "I guess I can't hold it back from you that that's partially it." He said, sighing. "I knew that it would be something like that. What about the other part though?"

Sasuke looked back down at what he had tried to hide from her, knowing that she had known about it anyway. He grabbed it in his hands, but covered it from her sight. Sakura noticed he was signaling to it. "What do you have in your hand?" She asked this time. Sasuke looked back at her, "If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anybody?" He asked, looking like he had just regretted what he had said. Sakura smiled and nodded, "Of course." Sakura said with an honest smile and nod.

Sasuke gave her a long look, then slowly opened his hand. It was a small blanket, sewn together by a bunch of little squares, four squares in each row, with two rows. Only eight squares total. Sakura glanced at the blanket, then back at Sasuke, who looked down at the blanket worryingly. She looked at it then gaped, it was a special blanket Sasuke possessed. "A blanket?" She confirmed. Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes and nodding.****"I have never shown this to anybody before, and it's my biggest secret. I know it seems weird that a person like me is carrying a thing like that around, but it has a lot of background to it. My family made this for me when I was born."

He ran his fingers across the top orange one, "Each of these were sewn by one family member. This orange was from my dad, the red from my mom, green from my aunt, blue from my uncle, yellow and purple each from one of my cousins, sky blue from my grandma, and… he looked uneasily at his last square. "The black one is from, my older brother, Itachi."

Sakura looked at the last one, his brother, the one that had slaughtered Sasuke's whole family.

She glanced at Sasuke, and noticed he had a faraway look in his eyes, he also looked like he was in mental pain, and distressed again. Sakura thought she should dig a little deeper, to get closer to Sasuke's feelings, this was the first time he could talk about his feelings, he had never had anybody who bothered. He always pushed people away as a result, this was his first time letting somebody into his life.

"You miss your family, don't you?" She asked him, her expression filled with grief. Sasuke turned his head the other way, closing his eyes, he looked as if he was about to cry. "So much." He whispered.

Sakura then gasped at what she saw. Tears freely flowed from Sasuke's eyes, he didn't look back at her though. He had never experienced this kind of talk before. He buried his head deeper into his arm, trying his best to hide the unstoppable tears, but his shaking back, his small gasps and small noises he made was enough to show Sakura. She felt like crying herself, seeing her emotionless teammate shattering before her. She knew talking was the only way for him to feel better though. She wrapped her arm around his back and arm and pulled him close. She expected him to pull away, but he stayed, with tears still flowing down his cheeks. He had his head resting on Sakura's shoulder, and she had her chin rested on his head. "It'll be ok, I'm here." She whispered.

She looked down at Sasuke, who still had his eyes closed as he cried. "Don't cry Sasuke, everything is going to be all right." He looked up at her, his eyes still spilling tears that glistened in the moonlight. He buried his head again, this time into her shoulder. She pulled him tighter, and just let him cry. _Time. All he needs in some time. _She thought. Feeling her eyes water, but she pushed the tears away. She could feel Sasuke's tears soak through her shirt; obviously Sasuke had never been able to let his emotions free, barricading them within himself for ten years.

Sasuke grasped his blanket tighter, and then looked at Sakura, his eyes lighter. "Sakura, please, don't tell anybody about this." He whispered. Sakura nodded, "Your secret is safe with me."

He and Sakura watched the moon, Sasuke's head still rested on her shoulder, her arm still across his back. It took Sasuke ten minutes to finally regain control of his tears, but once he did he sighed softly into her shouder.

Sitting for another five minutes, the silence cleared as Sasuke yawned. "It's pretty late. Should we head in?" Sakura asked. Sasuke paused before answering. "Yea…"

They slowly got back into their sleeping bags. "Hey, Sasuke?" Sakura said innocently. Sasuke looked up at her, "What is it?" She blushed, "I… I just wanted to remind you, that anytime you ever need to talk, I am here. Alright?" Sasuke smiled, and nodded to her, "Don't worry, I will always remember. This is the first time I have ever really talked to anybody before."

Sakura smiled back, watching him close his eyes and fall asleep quickly, his blanket still clutched in his arms. She sat next to him, watching him for a couple minutes, stroking his hair and cheeks before lying down again. _Finally, maybe after this he finally won't be so closed anymore. _She thought closing her eyes and falling asleep along with her two other teammates.

The story afterwards:

**(Epilogue)**

After the little trip they went on, Sakura and Sasuke were always closer. Kakashi noticed, and was glad he decided to send them off to his team building idea. The team had bonded, but Sakura will never forget what Sasuke had admitted to her that night, and Sasuke will never forget his first talk with anyone, and the emotions he exposed. He even told his teammate his biggest secret. One thing he would never ever forget though, was the freedom he felt, to talk to Sakura.

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**Alright... was that SasuSaku enough?? Sorry I didn't let them kiss in the end.. didn't want it. And before I forget... I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!**

**^^ There. Anyways... I know... Sasuke really sucked in the story.. it really has no plotline to it... *sigh***

**Hope some of my other stories are better. Please review... because it always makes me smile and want to write even more when I get them. Even bad comments will make me smile because that person showed me that I have to work harder. Big hug + a cookie to all who review. Thanks for reading!!  
Btw... I am working on this story... called "Unidentified Sickness"... and it's been my favorite written story. I may decided to do it if many people ask in reviews! :)**

**PM me for more information. ^^ In case I don't update before Christmas... HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!**

**~SasukeUchihasGuardian**


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